John Dorsey: I see that speed and twitch back in C.J. Spiller

Posted by Josh Alper on April 21, 2017, 1:46 PM EDT

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The Chiefs parted ways with a longtime member of their backfield this offseason when they released Jamaal Charles and they also took a shot on a reclamation project when they signed C.J. Spiller as a street free agent.

With Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West already on hand in Kansas City, it didn’t appear that the team saw Spiller as more than a flier on a player who was well removed from his best days as an NFL back. During a Friday press conference, Chiefs General Manager John Dorsey suggested that there might be some wings to the move.

Dorsey said, via Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star, that Spiller has “that speed and twitch back” from earlier in his career. It has been a long time since Spiller has shown either of those things in any great supply — he’s played for four teams and run for 420 yards in the last three seasons — but injuries have played a role in his lackluster results.

There’s a pretty good chance that this will be forgotten as the optimistic musings of April by the time training camp rolls around, but the Chiefs would be more than happy if it plays out the other way.

Spiller has been one of the most baffling RBs over the last few years IMO. Even during his best years in Buffalo, I always felt that he was being under-utilized and I completely expected him to break out when he went to another team, instead he fell off the face of the earth. Every time he got cut and signed by someone else I was convinced that he was going to mount a comeback. I’m still pulling for him, but at this point I think he’s done.

Speed and twitch are not the problem, he’s just bad at football and hates contact.

1. Never follows his blockers
2. Can’t/Won’t pass protect
3. Always runs out of bounds to avoid getting hit, even if it means being a yard shy of a first down, or not running out the clock at the end of a half

Somehow four teams and some of the best coaching minds in the game “aren’t using him right.”

I got a bag of leftover Peeps that says he’ll be looking for number six this winter.

If the Chiefs are planning to draft a RB early in the draft, the best way to throw off the other 31 teams is to pretend like you just found the RB you were looking for. Nice try Dorsey, but I don’t think anyone’s buying it.